Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Countess who claims to have narrowly avoided being killed by the
Manson Family begs California governor not to release former cult member

Former Manson cult member Leslie Van Houten recommended for parole

She is now waiting on approval of governor Jerry Brown being going free

Ava
Roosevelt, who said she was due to be at Sharon Tate's house the night
she was killed by Manson's followers, is opposing the move

Roosevelt says she will 'fear for my life and those who I love' if she is freed

Van Houten was not involved in Tate's killing, but admits helping to murder Leno and Rosemary La Bianca the previous night

By
Chris Pleasance For Dailymail.com

Published:
10:35 EST, 7 May 2016
| Updated:
11:43 EST, 7 May 2016

Ava Roosevelt, 68, who claims she was
nearly a victim of the Manson family murders, has asked for a former
member of the cult to be kept in jail

Ava
Roosevelt, who claims she narrowly escaped being a victim of the Manson
family murders, has begged California's governor to keep a former
member of the cult locked up.

Roosevelt,
68, told governor Jerry Brown that she will 'fear for her life' if
Leslie Van Houten, who helped Manson's followers murder Leno La Bianca
and his wife Rosemary in 1969, is released from jail.

Van
Houten, a former beauty queen who admits holding a pillow over
Rosemary's head as she was stabbed to death and then mutilating her
corpse, was recommended for parole last month after 46 years in jail.

In a letter, seen by the New York Post, Roosevelt writes: 'If Leslie van Houten, a convicted killer, is set free, I fear for my life and those who I love.

'In
my view there is no place for this murderer in American society. As a
survivor of the death spree, I beseech your office to deny any
recommendation for parole.'

Roosevelt
claims she was due to be at Sharon Tate's house on the night Manson's
'family' stabbed the actress to death along with four of her friends.

Tate,
who was eight months pregnant with husband Roman Polanski's baby at the
time, had invited Roosevelt over to her house after dinner on the night
of August 9, 1969, she claims.

However, a faulty gas valve on her 1955 Rolls Royce meant the car would not start and so she stayed at home.

That
night Linda Kasabian, Tex Watson, Susan Atkins and Patricia 'Katie'
Krenwinkel broke into Tate's Beverly Hills mansion, tied her and her
friends up, and stabbed them to death - scrawling the work 'Pig' in
blood on the wall before leaving.

The
following day Leno and Rosemary were also stabbed to death in similarly
gruesome fashion, with the word 'War' carved into Leno's stomach.

Roosevelt
is just the latest in a long line of people who have called for Van
Houten to be kept behind bars after a parole board recommended her for
release.

+6

Leslie Van Houten, who was jailed aged
19 for helping to murder Leno and Rosemary La Bianaca in 1969, was
recommended for parole last month after serving 46 years of her life
sentence

+6

Van Houten (far right, with fellow
killers Susan Atkins, left, and Patricia Krenwinkel, center) admitted
holding a pillow over Rosemary La Bianca's head as she was killed, and
then stabbing her after she had died

Cory
La Bianca, Leno's daughter, gave a rare interview with the LA Times in
which she said: 'I very much disagree with the ruling.

'We
all need to be held responsible for our behavior. The least we can do,
for someone who commits a crime against another human being, is to keep
them in jail.'

She
said her 41-year-old son burst into tears while listening to the parole
hearing at the California Institution for Women in Chino.

Sharon
Tate's sister, Debra, has also started a petition calling for Van
Houten to be kept behind bars, saying she failed to show remorse for
years after the crimes and can't be trusted.

Van
Houten was just 18 when the Manson killings took place over two days in
August 1969. She was not present for the murders of Tate and her
friends, but went along the following night when the La Bianca's were
killed.

Van
Houten, who launched her first parole attempt in 1979 and has applied
for parole 20 times, recounted her part in the killing of La Bianca and
his wife during her hearing.

The
former homecoming princess, who described herself as a hippy at the
time of the murders, told of how she looked off into the distance until
another Manson follower told her to do something before she joined in
the stabbing.

+6

+6

Cory La
Bianca, the daughter of Rosemary (left) and Leno (right), has also asked
for van Houten not to be released, saying she failed to show remorse
and should be left in jail

+6

Van Houten (right, with Atkins left
and Krenwinkle center) was recommended for parole last month despite
admitting that she would have stabbed babies if Manson had demanded it

Van
Houten told the panel she had been traumatized by her parents' divorce
when she was 14, her pregnancy soon after and her mother's insistence
she have an abortion.

During her five-hour testimony, Van Houten described Manson as a 'Christ-like man that had all the answers'.

Van Houten also admitted that she would have been willing to stab babies and toddlers if Manson had demanded it.

She was initially sentenced to death for her part in the slayings, but that was later commuted to life in prison.

Her
defense lawyers say she denounced Manson and his teachings soon after
being jailed, and has taken 'self-help programs, classes and
counselling' while in jail.

The
decision of the parole board will now be scrutinized by a legal panel
before being sent to Brown for approval, a process which can take up to
four months.

While
Brown has worked to reform the parole process in California, making it
easier for inmates to be released, he has denied applications from
members of the Manson cult in the past.

Manson
(left in 1969 and right in 2009) inspired his cult of hippie followers
to stab at least nine people to death as part of an impeding race war
that he warned was approaching

Bruce
Davis, convicted for the killings of Gary Hinman, an aspiring musician,
and stuntman Donald 'Shorty' Shea, had a recommendation turned down by
Brown who said he had still failed to accept full responsibility for his
part in the murders.

Manson,
now 81, remains behind bars, along with Patricia Krenwinkel and Charles
'Tex' Watson who have each been denied parole multiple times.

11 comments:

I have only two words for the Countess, who joins the ever lengthening list of those that "were supposed to be at Sharon's house that night" even though we know she was meant to meet up with a mate of hers called Sheila:Steve Grogan.

Yes, Sharon had planned to go to Sheilah's house. Sheilah called her to tell her that neighbors were complaining about some sort of parking issue. She said that Sharon then told her that she'd just stay home due to being tired and that she and Jay would just go out for hamburgers. So, Sheilah liked Jay so we can assume that he probably would've accompanied Sharon, maybe he wouldn't have stayed there, maybe he would've. Chances are that they wouldn't have been at Cielo tho unless Sharon was tired and wanted to go home. Sheilah said she asked Sharon to spend the nite. One has to wonder: if Sheilah hadn't called, would Sharon (and/or Jay) have gone to her house as planned?

Good point Venus. I was also wondering if Jay ever went to Cielo Drive when Sharon wasn't there. I can't imagine that he would have. I don't think he was interested in hanging out with just Voytek & Gibby.

London is overrun........with foxes ripping open rubbish bags, rats clearing up the detritus that the foxes leave behind and fluffy blossoms blowing off the trees and plants and making we hayfever sufferers sneeze long into the night.....

FRIENDS

"Charlie Manson is a five foot seven schizophrenic, who if it weren't for the murder of Sharon Tate, would never be known or discussed. And I'm not saying he isn't funny and entertaining. I'm saying he's a dime a dozen criminal-class punk, who had the good fortune of running into some middle class pseudo-revolutionary white girls." -- Tom G

"The simple and undeniable truth, is that Charlie and the gang were/are the biggest idiots, morons and imbeciles on the planet." -- Leary7

"Them fucking fruitcakes could not pour piss out of a boot, with the bottom written on it."--Harold True